


Damage from the Diamonds

by prismatism



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Last Day of the War, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 19:28:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7726873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prismatism/pseuds/prismatism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pearl's perspective on the last day of the Gem Wars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Damage from the Diamonds

Pearl almost didn’t believe her eyes when she saw the Homeworld gems retreating. Of course, she had seen their armies pull back before in tactical maneuvers, to heal and regroup before the next charge, but never like this — never all at once.

The rest of the Crystal Gems stood as dumbfounded as her, weapons still in hand with nothing left to strike. Over the distant hills, Pearl could make out small spots of ships rising, leaving. The Diamonds were abandoning Earth.

_We won._

The words echoed in her mind, but she scarcely believed them. Looking around at the rest of the soldiers showed a reflection of her own expression: wide eyes, mouth ready to smile, but still hesitant.

_Did we really win? Did we actually do this?_  

Only one gem could tell her for sure, and as soon as Pearl realized that, she rushed back towards the center of the battlefield. Towards Rose. She gracefully sidestepped discarded swords and fallen gems. They would have plenty of time to reform; if they had won they’d have all the time in the world.

_If they had won. Could it be?_

“Rose!” Pearl couldn’t completely hide the joy and excitement in her voice. She hadn’t heard a single sound of fighting since the exodus of their opponents. There couldn’t be any other explanation. “Rose, I think we won!”

“Pearl,” said Rose, and Pearl couldn’t help but beam back. “I think—”

When Pearl thought back to that day, and she thought back to it over and over again in the thousands of years that came afterwards, she could never remember which she noticed first — the light or the sound.

The light started low and harsh, turning the gems ahead of her into gray silhouettes. The sound started soft but grew, worming its way into her core, until just as suddenly, it stopped. A pink veil cut off the light, and Pearl turned to see a bubble encasing three gems: herself, Rose, and the fusion Garnet.

“Rose, what’s going on?” The question came out quietly; fear still turned her polite and timid.

 “I– I don’t know.”

The brightness of the light washed out all of the land’s features, leaving only the shapes of the other Crystal Gems, huddled on the ground. They changed, twisting in on themselves and out again, contorting in ways that Pearl didn’t want to believe were possible. After a few moments she had to turn away, unable to watch the curtain call that the Diamonds had prepared for her fellow warriors, her friends.

_We won the war. But we may have lost even more._

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Centipeetle's tale in Monster Reunion. Thanks for reading!


End file.
